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6.27.2011

Happy Tuesday! Time for another Riley and Company new Challenge - this week, brought to us by DT member, Joy! Her challenge this week - USING DIES OR PUNCHES! For my card today, I used G.I. Riley and created a card using the cuttlebug - using both nestabilities and the scallop border. Since this card is heading to a soldier wounded in Afghanistan who is here stateside in a rehab center, I wanted to keep it as masculine as I could but cheerful at the same time. I went through my stack and chose some jillibean soup paper {love this stuff!!} with matching colors to Riley's uniform :)

Be sure to stop in and see what the DT have created using punches and dies!

Hiya! This weekend went by in a blur! Dd16 and I went out on Friday night to dinner and a movie - just the two of us! It's so sweet and wonderful to have one on one time with just one of our children since we have 4 - that happens next to never :) I hope your weekend was wonderful, too! I'm starting off the week early -- Calendar Girls post tomorrow but I'm posting today due to a full schedule this week :)

Our most wonderfully fabulous hostess this month is Carol! She gave us the challenge to make a card on what we plan to do this summer. Starting the first week of July, we'll be traveling and visiting quite a bit of our fantastic Sunshine state all the way to the tippy top panhandle ... seeing some historic stops along the way, finishing up with the theme parks! We've also spent quite a bit of the summer so far at the beach so I chose this darling sandcastle, paired with warm and tropical papers from MME.

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Inside View!

﻿Thanks for stopping by today! I'm off to take little guy back into the pool ~ enjoy your SUMMER day!

6.23.2011

Ohhhh! I have been so excited this past week and nearly bursting to keep quiet with the happiest news! Our dd14 was born for the stage and has a voice straight from the heavens. This summer, she's in a month long musical theater camp and tried out for a part in the play, hoping for "a" part but not anything huge. The talent there is competitive and she isn't. But when she sang, the directors pulled her aside and asked her to try out for the lead. With 4 others also trying out, we told her to just do her best and that's all He asks of us. She was one of 3 of the girls that were given a call back - then they gave her the news after waiting over a very long weekend! She got the LEAD!! The play is 1.5 hours and she's going to be singing and performing .. we are so proud! She's SOOO excited (now!) She felt so bad for the others, she nearly didn't except the part - my sweet babe!

Last week, she had the opportunity to visit a taping of the X-Factor - she sat in the audience and said it was NOT what you see on tv! She always told us she'd try out for American Idol one day, and after seeing that, said "um, maybe not!" She said you need to have a TON of self confidence to be on that show and she was crying along with nearly every contestant because most everyone was given a "no". I can't wait to find out what day it airs - they kept panning the camera to her/her friends direction and telling them to clap and cheer and scream :)~ Too funny! She said she could not believe she was sitting "this close to Simon and Paula!"
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side view :)

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Inside view before we signed it for her :)

﻿Thank you for letting me share - I'm so happy for her! I made her this card to celebrate her acceptance. She just loved it and said I was very talented, lol. I beg to differ - SHE is the one with all the talent! All I did was put marker to paper and paper to glue :) Speaking of cards, I made this one with one of my fave color combos - red, hot pink and green! Using up the last of my Real Red, I paired it with this yummalicious Lime Twist paper that I just found on sale - it's delish!! I thought this image was fun and the sentiment was perfect!Blessings to you ~ Thanks bunches for stopping by!

6.21.2011

Hi there! I'm haven't been blogging as much (but still trying to visit blogs!) as we are enjoying the full treats of summer! Sleeping in, hanging out in our pool, trips to the beach, playing outdoors!! I have been so rejuvenated this past week and grateful the hustle and bustle of our insanely busy lives has slowed down some :) We still have ds's Karate x3 per week and the girls are enjoying their Music Theater summer camp, but WOW, what a rest we've gotten overall - woot, woot! :)

Fresh Brewed Designs is back again this week with a new challenge - a photo challenge inspired by this photo. I pulled the colors of navy, blue, white and orange and created my card this week, using Hula Daisy - a new digi release!

FBD News! This image along with EVERYTHING else in theshop is on sale 15-20% off for a limited time. Yup, stamps, paint, digis, all of it!!! Stop by the shop and place your order before time runs out!

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to link up your photo inspired cards to the challenge blog - we'll stop by and show you some love! x0x0

6.15.2011

**Second post of the day - please scroll down for my FBD weekly card!**

Hiya! It's the 15th and that means the Dueling Darling Divas "battle" it out with the Dazzlers! For those that are new to my blog, we're a group of SCS friends that got together to create cards kits with the same theme but neither of us knows what the other team will receive til posting day! This month, our hostess was none other than the fabulous BARB! She's known for her amazing swaps on SCS and luckily, one of the Divas :) This month she sent us the most scrumptious kit to work with! I mean, this kit was so full of scrumptious papers and embellies, it was impossible to chose which to use! So much so, I made two! But ..... only one card posted for today :)

Her theme was ..... The Great Outdoors!

Here is my card for Team Divas! And the inside view which is where I added the sentiment :) And the paper isn't upside down, LOL! I promise! It's one of those fun papers where the image goes E, W, N and S :) All the elements used were from Barb's kit! The only thing I had to use was my SU cardstock and some itty bitty twine! (and a smidge of tombo!) Her kit was SO generous! Thank you, Barb! {Love you!!} And this story gets longer .... lol!

With the DDD posts, the hostess gives us a challenge part of the card :) Barb asked us to share a funny story of The Great Outdoors. A little over a year into our marriage, dh thought it would be FABULOUS (snort!) to take me camping. Um. Yes. We spent a fortune on camping gear from this cushy tent to a pontoon looking boat thing and drove to the middle of nowhere central Florida and camped. I was TERRIFIED! I felt lousy, I wanted a/c, and as soon as dark hit our deserted campground, I went into full blown panic, sitting up in my "sleeping bag" while dh snored like a bear. I was crushing a flashlight in my hands and just had to shine it into the woods and just screamed! Lots of glowing green eyes were staring back at me, just sitting - watching ... while a family of raccoons had made an assembly line to our tent - ripped a hole in it and had stolen everything from the bread to the chips to the paper towels! I ran to the car, refused to come back out while screaming in hysteria at my dh to leave! He said "well, why did you have to look into the woods!?" LOL! I had put up with 6 ft snakes all around us, buzzards, sneaky raccoons, water mocs in the "swim-able lake", still felt lousy and had had enough! We left, drove 55 miles in silence at 1-ish am and found a hotel that wasn't much better than the campgrounds, but it at least had 4 walls and a roof! We returned the next day, everything completely intact aside from the footprints of critters all through-out the campsite despire that 15 foot bonfire dh set when we left and there is a VERY Happy ending to this story! Aside from us going home, lol! That "Lousy" feeling I'd had that day and a half and the 10 trips to the one soda machine on the campgrounds to get grape soda one after the other was me 3.5 weeks pregnant with our first baby {our 16 year old daughter} :) And no, I have never gone camping again - He has! And I stayed home! In the house. Happily! :) I have taken my dd with her Girl Scout troop but we had cabins, a kitchen, meeting house - very cushy, not even real camping ;)

Be sure to head on over to the Divas and see what they have created with this fan-tabulous kit Barb sent to us!

**Please note: I have two posts for today! Fresh Brewed Designs new weekly challenge and the Dueling Darling's post!**

Arrrrrrrrrgh! Ahoy, Mates! Shiver me timbers, tis time for Fresh Brewed Designs to show you a new challenge! This week it's "Put a Song in your heart!" And I must confess, I read the challenge wrong - eeeeek! I thought it was Inspired by Song, lol -- hence, a Pirate card on my blog today *grin!*

Speaking of Johnny Depp - errr, I mean, Pirates, I thought this was so funny! Johnny Depp spooked by Capt Jack Sparrow!

We are HUGE Disney fans and visit the POC ride every single trip - my dh's fave! The last trip we made a few months ago, the actor playing Johnny Depp (REMARKABLE look-a-like!!) picked my hat off my head in the dungeons and kept talking/shouting at me pirate like though I didn't understand a word he was saying, rofl! He joined us on the ride and gave it back at the end - very cool moment! I felt like a star for a nano-second til I realized not only was my dh filming this, but about 500 other people were, too! Yikes! (yup, it was a ponytail, no make up day, ROFL!)

Back to my kind! I used Pirate Elvis, complete with eye patch and hook - such cuteness! I was inspired by the sketch this week at CPS Sketches #222. Colored with my prismas and it came together pretty quickly! I think this will be ds's Father's Day card to daddy this year :)

Pirate Elvis is available in the shop! We'd also love to see you join the Challenge blog this week with your cards inspiring by song!

And a wee quick reminder that we'd love to have you join the FBD group at The Latte Lounge! It's FREE! And there is a Man's Cards contest that lasts all month long - stop on by, and get your name in the running for some free FBD goodies! x0x0

6.13.2011

Happy Tuesday to you!! I hope your weekend was marvelous! We had picture postcard weather here in Miami and we took full advantage, spending the weekend at the beach so I was in a festive, colorful, water-babe kind of mood when I made this card! :)

This week at Riley and Company, there is a new challenge: To use Buttons and Bows! For my card, I used Fins Riley with ric-rac ribbon and baker's twine and tied them into bows and added my treasured Basic Grey buttons.

6.10.2011

Hey Hey, friends! Happy Friday!! School is finally out and we are heading to the beach as soon as sun breaks! We have a busy weekend lined up here but I need to unwind under a cool palm tree and splash in the turquoise sea! I also wanted to show you one of the YUMMIEST recipies! As you know, I have aslightStarbucks addiction *grin*. Double tall Caramel Macchiato and I'm one happy chica! Rummaging around on the net one day, I found a recipe for Caramel Macchiato ice cream! And I tried it! It's TDF!! I loved it so much, I turned it into a recipe card {and it's all April's fault! LOL!}

For this recipe card, I really wanted something fun and summery - I chose My Mind's Eye summery paper "Breaking Free" which is one of the most luscious papers! For the ice cream umbrella, I paper pieced it and popped it up on 3d dots to match the card. My favorite part are the three little red felt flowers I found in a little shop in Germany last summer and they gave it just the right extra little something but not over the top and it still fits into the recipe album my daughter started :)

I hope this weekend brings you lots of fun and sun and all things wonderful! {and maybe some ice cream, too!) *Smile!*

6.09.2011

As a mom with three daughters {before a son!}, there was not a single day that we didn't watch ALL of the Disney movies! From Cinderella to Mulan and every sweet little princess in between, we knew the movies word for word and the songs to go with! Trips to Disney, meeting them "in real life", every Disney Store Princess halloween costume imagineable! Ariel -*The Little Mermaid*- was always my oldest daughter's favorite - we even turned her room into a magical, underwater ocean kingdom! It was just gorgeous. I still hum the words when I see anything Mermaid, like this little sweetie from Fresh Brewed Designs! She's Cutie Pie Mermaid and available in digi and rubber stamp in the FBD shop!

This card was created for the Latte Lounge FBD Month long challenge of summer/beach and using pink and teal! Gorgeous theme and color combo! If you aren't familiar with The Latte Lounge, you can find your way by clicking HERE and guess what?! Joining is FREE! You'll find so much inspiration and lovely creations - stop in and take a look around! While you are there, I hope you can join Fresh Brewed Designs challenge - you have til the end of the month ... plenty of time! :)

Here's cutie pie, ready for the beach with her paper-pieced fin and bikini top! I paired it with the same flowery/summer papers from SU that match the card (using up my scraps!) I colored her with prismamarkers as well and added a sentiment from Ariel's "Part of your world".

**And even more yummy news!** Fresh Brewed Designs is in the June/July issue of Ready, Set, Create! How exciting is that! You can find the news/price/purchasing information here at their website - so much fun!!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you swim on over to the Latte Lounge and find us there and play along - we'd love to see what you create and have a chance at winning, too!

6.08.2011

I wish I could share all this gorgeous Florida sunshine with all of you! It's picture postcard perfect and that's what I was hoping to capture with the bright, fun, yellow in this card ......since today is a new Fresh Brewed Designs challenge and the challenge is to use yellow! :)

You can check out the challenge blog here and enter your lots of yellow card!

This week, Fresh Brewed Designs is having a little hop with a new release that you won't want to miss! You can find the the hop here and it will take you to the DT blogs that are introducing the new immies this week! Scrumptious!!

6.07.2011

Great motto for the King of the BBQ, right?! :) My dh actually has a bbq mitt with that saying on it from someone in the family - not sure if it was a hint or just the funny bone that took over! Either way, I'm usually running when he's bringing out anything for the grill and hide in the house!

And a good morning to you all! Sadly, I missed the SOTC June swap this month, hosted by the wonderful Fay. Her theme was to create a card for the men. I know that I personally struggle in this area, having lost dad and still feeling that loss every single day. But I do have the most wonderful husband on the planet (and beyond!) and love to celebrate all the wonders of him. Including the grill :::: shudder! :::: I thought about him when I created this month's themed card. Time got the better of me and having a jam packed schedule at my son's school and being a one-man band, I just didn't get them done but did get her hostess sample card made. Think I'll have to make another one of these before Father's Day and call it done! Or .... well done ......... *grin!*

Using some very, very, very old {hoarded} dsp from SU! Jersey Shore, I kept it simple overall and can't figure out how on earth to make a card without flowers and ribbons and girly girly stuff! How'd I do? :) This is my very first Mo Manning card ever! A superbly generous friend introduced me to these scrumptious immies!

One more day til the girls out of school for summer! WOOOHOOO!! Put another shrimp on the Barbie!

6.05.2011

I'm LUCKY because that means we're sharing a new card kit with you! :) This month, I was the hostess to send out identical card kits to the other kittens and this is what I came up :) I knew I wanted to use my MFT "wishing you luck" stamp and had to use limited resources locally to find the rest of the kit - hopefully the other kittens weren't too disappointed with the cache of double side papers, bling, ribbon, glittery buttons and more! I had fun putting this card together - once it finally got going, lol! It's a bit busy, but I loved the color combo and couldn't figure out what elements to use and not use until I got going. I almost always put something fun on the inside of my cards, too, so whatever dsp I didn't use on the front carried over!